Diaspora's Contribution to Armenia's Economic Development: What Drives the First Movers and How Their Efforts Could Be Scaled Up?

Abstract

The large Armenian Diaspora, widely dispersed throughout the 5 continents, had successfully preserved the nation's independence aspirations across generations born far from the homeland. This nationalistic tradition along with a strong sense of Pan-Armenian solidarity helped to mobilize an unprecedented amount of Diaspora support to the newly constituted state. Over more than a decade, the Armenian Diaspora excelled in generating international political support for Armenia, in the development, funding, and implementation of humanitarian aid programs, as well as in mobilizing private transfers to the Armenian population. There has been a broad consensus that the Diaspora is an invaluable and fundamental resource for the economic, social and political development of Armenia. At the same time, it is accepted that there is a considerable gap between the massive humanitarian contribution of the Diaspora and its much more modest participation in Armenia's economic life (Freinkman 2001, Samuelian et al. 2003, Manasaryan 2004). In short, the Diaspora's contribution to Armenia's long-term development agenda is considered to be much below its potential. This includes the low level of Diaspora investments and business participation, as well as the limited role of the Diaspora's organizations in the ongoing debate on Armenian development policies.